An awning is a welcome addition to a house, recreational vehicle, or other dwelling. The awning typically provides increased enjoyment of an outdoor area surrounding the dwelling. The awning can cast a shaded area that creates an escape from direct sunlight, thereby providing a space in which an occupant of the dwelling may relax. The shaded area created by the awning contributes to the relaxation of the occupant in that there is a perceived decrease in temperature and, thus, generally becomes more comfortable. The awning as well advantageously protects occupants underneath from precipitation. As illustrated in the prior art depicted in FIG. 1, traditional awning assemblies 10 have multi-component arm connectors 60 that are spaced from lateral edges 52, 54 of a traditional lead rail 50, making the arm connectors prominent in the field of view of a user. The traditional assembly 10 allows the arm connectors 60 to both translate and rotate at all four connection points 62. Arrows A illustrate the direction of the translation of the arm connectors 60 along the respective rails the closing of the assembly. While it should be appreciated that the opening would result in translation in the direction opposite the direction of arrows A and rotation in an opposite direction of the arm connectors from the closing rotation direction.
Known awning structures generally consist of a base 24 that is permanently affixed to the dwelling, and a canopy 42 that is removably attached to the base. Conventional awning structures are discussed in detail further in U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,433 assigned to Carefree/Scott Fetzer Company. U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,433 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes and attached hereto as an Appendix and part of this provisional application. Conventional motor driven awning structures are discussed in detail further in U.S. Pat. No. 8,960,256 assigned to Carefree/Scott Fetzer Company. U.S. Pat. No. 8,960,256 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.